The Girl from the Outer God and the Convenience Store Rules
Do you know that guy too?
In the CS25 Sanctum City branch, there's a space for eating takeout food like in other convenience stores on Earth.
It's a spot where customers can eat the food they buy from the convenience store. It's basically a strategy that kills two birds with one stone—customer comfort and store appeal.
“Hey, rookie.”
From that space, Kim Gichan was calling me out while sitting at the table, his voice a little hesitant.
I didn't really want to answer, but this time I had no choice.
“Yeah?”
“You ever go hungry as a kid and grow up without ever eating properly?”
“What are you talking about? That's not it at all.”
“No, you keep bringing stuff over here, so…”
Kim Gichan continued, glancing at the platinum-blonde girl sitting across from us at the table.
She was the one who had just finished showering and changed into fresh clothes.
The girl didn't even seem to care about the water droplets still dripping from her bangs. She was scarfing down the convenience store's triangular kimbap at full speed.
After cleaning the dirt off her from the trash can and giving her a proper wash, her appearance had actually improved quite a bit. The wet strands of hair clinging to her neck, and every time she took a bite of kimbap, her eyes and eyelashes would grow even wider without a second's break…
“So, is it that good?”
Just watching her eat made me mutter the thought out loud before I could stop myself.
We hadn't even given her ramen or a bento—just the expired kimbap Kim Gichan had been keeping on the side.
“Kyu… that was my precious expired one…”
“I took it out because you wanted me to buy it for you, remember?”
“Well, it was because it was on sale as an expired item… but…”
“Huk… uuu… it's too delicious…”
The girl suddenly started crying while nodding her head over and over. Every time she moved her arms while wearing the spare clothes I had lent her, the collar slipped off her shoulders.
“You poor thing… what on earth have you been eating?”
“Steamed vegetables, wild roots, and goat milk…”
The girl answered between sniffles when Kim Gichan asked. The completely over-the-top answer left me and Kim Gichan staring at each other for a moment.
“Should we just drop her off back where she came from?”
“Too late for that now.”
It didn't take long for the kimbap to be reduced to just the plastic wrapper. Kim Gichan turned to the girl who had already finished filling her stomach.
“So, where did you come from, miss?”
I was just as curious about her origins.
And why she had ended up collapsed in the store's recycling bin.
The girl straightened her back and clasped her hands together.
Just like that, the vibe changed completely from when she was frantically eating the kimbap earlier.
“I would like to sincerely thank the two of you for your help. My name is Maria Anquines, a holy relic serving the Outer God in the Illusion Cult.”
Kim Gichan and I exchanged another look at the girl who had introduced herself with hands folded in prayer.
“Rookie…”
“Mmm…”
Reading our gloomy expressions, the girl who called herself Maria hurriedly added more.
“I can't pay you anything right now, but if you wish, I can offer you my blessing from the Outer God!”
“No, no, miss. It's fine. It's this friend who rescued you, so maybe you should bless her?”
Kim Gichan showed a truly impressive talent for dodging by tossing me the next bomb and shutting it down flat. Maria's eyes widened, and she pouted with “Hing…” instead of continuing what she had been about to say.
She had clearly been about to ask for a real blessing. Her eyes watered as she looked at me, who hadn't answered yet.
“A blessing…”
“I prefer money.”
Of course I had no intention of accepting.
This was a world where the Demon King could rip someone apart with just a finger snap. How could I know what would happen if I gave her a blessing?
Remember, this is Sanctum City.
Maria's lips, which had been rejected even by me, poked out cutely.
“H, but the Outer God's blessing is incomparable to the fleeting riches of this world that will soon fade…”
“Still, I prefer money.”
“Uuuu…”
“Heh. She's ruthless, you know.”
Kim Gichan sighed admiringly from the side. It was only natural. Both he and I had probably come here just for the high hourly wage.
If money was all that mattered, we would have quit this part-time job on the spot.
If I had known going in that we'd be working at a brutal convenience store in some weird dimensional city, I wouldn't have taken it.
Maria seemed quite disappointed by my answer.
“Well, there's no helping it. But this too is the Outer God's guidance…”
“What exactly is this so-called Outer God?”
I at least knew it wasn't a religion on Earth.
When I asked, Maria's eyes, which had been looking down, suddenly lit up as she grabbed my hand. She gave me the gentlest smile and leaned in close.
“Do you want to know about the Outer God's existence?”
“No, I prefer money…! Wait, what kind of power…?”
Separate from the two soft, warm palms that were now wrapping around my hand, Maria's strength was surprisingly powerful.
“Ah, I understand perfectly that I am an unavoidable element in the lives of the believers of this world. However, material things are ultimately just subordinate elements existing beneath the Outer God's domain. If I, as the priest and holy relic of that being, were to tell the non-believer more about the wider perspective…”
“I'm not a non-believer, I'm Yu Jinho. If you keep talking like that, the interest you had will disappear.”
“Did you have interest?!”
“No, I didn't!”
I managed to pull my hand away from Maria.
Feeling a tap on my shoulder, I turned and saw Kim Gichan grinning at me.
“Rookie, I'm out. I'm giving up the kimbap.”
“Senior, where are you going? And weren't you planning to take it?”
“There are three things that can't be mixed no matter how different the dimensions are.”
“What?”
“Love, politics, and religion.”
Kim Gichan bent his fingers one by one while saying it.
“Looks like she's a plane drifter. Since you picked her up, you take her to the Dimensional Control Bureau and register her as a drifter. I'll handle the store!”
“This guy never wants to do anything that might be a hassle for him.”
“Come on. I'm on my last week of my contract here…”
I sighed and stood up too. As I watched Maria, still gripping my hand tightly, repeating the history of her cult in a voice that was ready to explain everything at any moment.
“Let's go.”
“Huh? To your room, Jinho-ssi?”
“What are you saying…”
“I thought you were going to take me to a quiet, dark place where I could hear more about the cult?”
This girl. It seemed she had a habit of not listening to others at all. And she was taking it very seriously.
I gave her a contemptuous look, and Maria perked up with a deadpan expression before standing.
“B-but you seem to have talent…”
“What kind of talent?”
“Are you saying it's a talent for dying?”
“Does your senior have that talent too?”
I kicked Kim Gichan's leg while he was teasing me.
Calling him senior and acting like this…
I left the convenience store with Maria. Sanctum City was still bustling with all sorts of races and existences, but since it was a relatively quiet time, there were fewer crowds than usual.
Asking a few passersby for the location of the Dimensional Control Bureau, we arrived at a rather large building.
“Yeah, it has that official-government-office feel to it.”
Given that this was a city built from various dimensions, it made sense that a place managing dimensions would be a core facility.
“Oh, Jinho-ssi! That sparkly, wobbly thing over there!”
“That stuff is gross. Eating it will kill you.”
I pulled Maria away from her pointing at the store's cotton candy. It was the fourteenth time today.
During the twenty-minute walk to the Dimensional Control Bureau, I had to drag her along while she kept exclaiming how amazing everything was. I was almost out of breath by the end.
“But… even if it kills you, it looks delicious… The Outer God would probably say it's delicious too…”
“Can I really sell the Outer God's name for something like this…?”
The Outer God? A neighborhood uncle?
In the end, I sighed and offered a compromise.
“If you go inside and finish your paperwork properly, I'll buy you one.”
“J-Jinho-ssi…! You are the Outer God who spans across dimensions, and this humble and weak vessel humbly begs for your noble grace—”
“Stop! Do that and it's canceled!”
I hurriedly stopped Maria from clasping her hands and pouring out a blessing aimed at me, overwhelmed by the emotion.
“Uuu, but Jinho-ssi deserved the blessing—”
“! Money or nothing!”
“Uuu…”
We hadn't even started the plane drifter registration process yet, and I was already facing a difficult situation.